Dates

Overpayment to employees, in particular former employees, is more common than you think. It can range from a simple payroll error such as miscalculating a payment of wages and or bonus/commission to seeking recovery of holiday pay, benefits such as a car allowance or train season ticket and even training fees from a former employee.

Starting legal proceedings should always be the last resort when it comes to debt recovery. That’s because reminding a debtor of his or her responsibilities, along with the potential consequences of not paying, is often enough to secure compliance. In the final stage of correspondence this is done through a document known as a letter before action, or LBA.

There are various points you should consider before "going legal". Some of these should be considered before you give instructions to a solicitor to warn the customer by letter that court proceedings will be started unless they pay the debt within a specific deadline, i.e. 7 days.Going Legal

"Cut to the chase" urges Lovetts, in response to latest initiative to stamp out late payment

For roughly the cost of a coffee or daily newspaper, firms struggling with late payment can instruct a solicitor to issue a Letter Before Action and have an 84% chance of being paid according to new data from Lovetts, the commercial debt recovery law firm.

The Challenge

Lovetts' client, a steel company based in Cheshire instructed Lovetts on 8th August to send a Letter before Action to a debtor who owed €474,768.06. The letter gave the debtor 7 days to make payment directly to our client and warned if payment was not received,legal proceedings may be taken.

Yet almost 1 in 4 is experiencing more late payment problems, reveals Lovetts

August 2014 - A survey of over 100 businesses by Lovetts Plc, the commercial debt recovery law firm has found that while late payment issues have worsened in the past year, few firms are fully exploitingtheir legal and regulatory rights

In a further sign of increased business confidence, during Quarter 4 2013, businesses clamped down on the time they allowed customers to delay payment before threatening legal action.

The time from invoice to instructing a Letter Before Action (LBA) to be issued decreased by 12 days between Q3 2013 and Q4 2013, according to the latest debt recovery statistics from commercial debt recovery law firm, Lovetts Plc. Furthermore, the average debt being chased rose by 31% on the previous quarter.

Sending a letter before action (LBA) is only as effective as the creditor’s willingness to enforce it. The risk is that once debtors know you have no intention to carry out your threat of action, your front line weapon rapidly becomes increasingly ineffective.

You may be reluctant to make a claim due to worries about offending your larger clients because you are fearful of not getting further orders. You shouldn’t be.

If you have tried every other avenue of approach with no success, it is worth remembering that a customer who is no longer paying your invoices is no longer a customer? They are a debtor.